Combat Evaluations
Summary: (February 2027) Several combat rounds take place to allow Fusillade a chance to better size up the troops. NCC Arena This circular arena evokes either a whirlpool, in the sloping spiral of the seating, or a toothy maw, in the pointed backs of the seats. Layered blues and subtle violets give a water-colored feel to the arena, a pointed contrast to the bright life-fluids spilled on the floor here. It's almost mocking, the lulling false sense of security. Rising on shining spires, box seats perch high above the 'whirlpool', sculpted like crystalline compound eyes, mirrored and unknowable on the outside and comfortable within, with an excellent view of the arena. Floodlight globes like pearls are strung from the high ceiling, and on full power, they can fill the arena with more light than high noon. Inside, Bandit soars into the air above the stunning shot from Vortex and raises his right arm, aiming his weapons at his frame. "Hrm....well lets give this a try now...." his cannon arm begins to glow and he fires at the Combaticon. The surge of energy pushing him backwards a bit. Inside, Bandit strikes Vortex with Fusion Beam. Inside, Vortex falls to the ground unconscious. Inside, Training Drone - NCC hovers over to Vortex and revives it with a quick zap of energy. "You require additional training to defeat this unit at this skill level." Fusillade tosses her cup of ener-chips at the arena from her spot in the stands. "I just GOT HERE!!!" Inside, Vortex is knocked backwards and unconscious. Has to be one of the quickest battles in history. "You're good." he stands with a salute. "May I ask your name, Decepticon?" Homunculus smirks with no small amount of bemusement from his perch when the Combaticon is knocked clean out. "Serves him right." Twisting his head to glance at Fusillade, the tape shrugs. "It might not be over yet. Lots of time, and Combaticons, to brutalize." Inside, Bandit nods "Certainly.....my name is Bandit. I am pleased to be making your aquiantance....I am sorry if I took it a bit to harsh in the outset....we did not even have the time to transform. I will attempt to do better next time comrade...." Inside, Vortex looks back at those observing. "What? Does anyone else want some? Feel free to come down here." he pauses. "Yeah well. I'm kinda below par right now. Missing an important part of my fighting edge." always an excuse. Homunculus hops up and smacks his hands together. "Took long enough." Homunculus enters the Holo Arena. Fusillade unfurls one of her wingblades, and leans back in her seat. "Huh. I had forgotten how poised Bandit can be," she reparks to Homonculus, and 'huhs' to herself as he rather quickly accepts Vortex's challenge. "Oh you've got to be kidding me," she rumbles to herself. Inside, Homunculus hops in and smirks. "Ready for take down number two, motormouth?" The tape rubs his hands together with glee as the whine of his weapons coming online resonates in the arena. Inside, Vortex takes a rotor off his back and points it at Homunculus. "Let's go then. It's not like I can feel the damage anyways." he seems a little shaky on his feet, but he's still going. Inside, Bandit nods his head and grins. "Ahhh Homunculus....it has been quite some time." he looks to Vortex and then to Homu and grins. "I will step out.....give me a holler if you need me..." he bows his head in respect for the combat about to take place and then leaves. Bandit emerges from the Holo Arena. Inside, Homunculus offers a parting wave to Bandit. "It's been a while," he calls after the other, one of the few Decepticons he seems to have any respect for these days. Seemingly bored, the small warrior looks back to the Combaticon. "Anytime you're ready, princess." Boy, he's in a rotten mood today. Inside, Vortex chuckles. "Femmes first." he bows, letting Homunculus have the first go. Bandit walks over to the stands and notices Fusillade. "Ahhh ....good evening Fusillade. How are you faring?" he asks as he takes a seat beside her. Inside, Homunculus snorts humorlessly. "You might want to get those optics checked, re-tread. Maybe it is time you were broken down for parts." Leaping into the air, he rushes the Combaticon. Twin apertures slid open along his wrists, dropping thin cylinders into his hands. A quick thumb of the activation studs and a pair of energy axes lash out. Inside, Homunculus strikes Vortex with Twin Plasma Axes. Fusillade continues to observe, leaning back on one elbow on the seating tier above her. As Bandit's ebony form ascends, she inclines her crowned brow his way, before tilting her head curiously at the apparent mismatch below. As he draws near, she rolls her shoulders in a shrug. "Just... watching for now. My prowess lies in my alternate mode, so I'm less inclined to flaunt my robot mode's abilities. I guess it didn't set well with Shockwave. He dislikes the chaos I allowed. I've always been of the thought that we could do great things without THAT much direction. Letting boys be boys, as it were." She gestures to the arena. "Think how helpless most humans would be to stop the collateral damage that such a fight would cause if it was done in a city. We should have been let free to do as we wish." Her piercing saffron yellow gaze snaps viciously as she watches the two go at it below. Inside, Vortex takes the energy axes to his chest, moving backwards. Though he does not grunt in pain, his systems seem to be running more then a bit slowly. "At your hands? Hardly.." he moves a foot out, ready to kick Homunculus across the arena. Inside, Vortex misses Homunculus with its kick attack. Cyberlion lays there motionless and silent observing the fight. His optics wander for a second to Bandit and Fusillade's position but he remains silent for now. Inside, Homunculus is smaller than most opponents and sometimes that takes a little getting used to. Throwing himself backwards, he slips under Vortex's leg but quickly recovers. Leaping up onto the Combaticon's leg, Homes launches himself at his foe's head. Deactivating the blades, he swings quickly with both fists. Inside, Homunculus misses Vortex with his Double Axe-Hand attack. Inside, Vortex rolls out of the way of the leaping Homes, aiming his glue gun in the tape's direction. "Let's see how well you jump when glued to the ground.." Inside, Vortex strikes Homunculus with its special attack. Bandit looks like: A 27 foot tall robot stands before you. The black colored seeker has his wings folded neatly behind his back, one on each shoulder. His frame is surprisingly sturdy for his ilk. Purple optics blaze a cold and menacing hue. The once youthful vigor has been replaced with a look of firm reslove. His cheeks and chin are prominent and look reinforced. The sides of his head have the seeker vents like those of old. His chest is comprised of the support structure for his nosecone along with a glowing core in its center. His torso, comprised of his nosecone and neatly folded canards, is painted with a subdued Skull and Crossbones. The seeker's shoulders are broad. His lengs extend like armored tree trunks from his sturdy hips. Each foot is formed from the thrust vectoring nozzles. Both shoulders have armored superstructures that resemble football shoulder pads. His arms are solid and end in purple spiked fists. Each arm contains two weapons mounts; a smaller disruptor and a larger cannon. Looking at this seeker, it seems as if he gives off an eerie purple glow, faint enough to be felt but subtle enough to not be obvious. His motivational air of confidence, conviction, and a bit of cockyness reaches all within his reach. A fine example of speed, power, and toughness wrapped into one fierce package. Inside, Homunculus overcompensates and doesn't quite make contact. Embarrassing as it is, he manages to keep his temper in check for now. Unfortunately, there's that pesky matter of the glue gun. Entangled, he slams into the ground and bounces several feet, sending up a shower of sparks. "I will end you," the tape warns darkly, all trussed up as he is. Inside, Vortex chuckles approaching Homunculus, taking a fist to the smaller mech's head. "Not unless you can avoid that glue you won't.." Inside, Vortex strikes Homunculus with punch. Inside, Homunculus's head slams violently into the ground, rattling whatever fills up his cranium. Erupting from the thick strands of glue, he snarls with unleashed fury. "Fool! You dare!" Hefting his familiar looking, if scaled cannon arm, he fires of a burst of amethyst fire. Inside, Homunculus strikes Vortex with Fusion Cannon . Inside, Vortex takes the fusion blast, blown back by the small one's attack. He transforms, ready to fire at the tape from the sky. "If you were bigger, I'd be worried." he taunts. Inside, Vortex strikes Homunculus with laser. Fusillade's jaw goes slack as she watches the tape's output. Inside, Homunculus cackles with demented glee as his blast strikes home. Still floating, he rises quickly after the helicopter. He's so engrossed in crushing his opponent that he completely ignores the incoming barrage of laser fire. The searing beams etch small furrows in the tape's armor and his grimaces with the simulated discomfort of it. "Die! NYAAAAAAAAAARGH!" Krak-a-foom. Inside, Homunculus strikes Combat Helicopter with Fusion Cannon . Inside, Combat Helicopter takes the plasma bolt to his side. He comes down, blade in his hand, a look of determination on his face. "I must admit. You're persistant.." Inside, Vortex misses Homunculus with its blade attack. Inside, Homunculus unleashes the blast and lines up another. "No," he snarls, "I'll tear you apart!" Off hand forcing his cannon arm to his side, the tape launches after the Combaticon. Darting low under the rotor blade, the diminutive Decepticons pivots sharply in the air to smash both his feet into whatever piece of Vortex happens to be nearest. Inside, Homunculus misses Vortex with his Leg Piston! attack. Inside, Vortex flies out of the way of the piston, as he lands on all fours. He struggles to a standing position, laser in hand. "Let's get this over with." he snarls. Inside, Vortex strikes Homunculus with laser. Inside, Homunculus misses and clearly isn't happy about it. His face contorts into a tortured rictus mask of rage. He's even less amused by the burst of laser fire that once again scores his dazzling finish. "Will you just fall already? I tire of this!" Leaping forward, he swings his fists again. Inside, Homunculus strikes Vortex with Two-Fisted Smash. Inside, Vortex falls to the ground unconscious. Inside, Training Drone - NCC hovers over to Vortex and revives it with a quick zap of energy. "You require additional training to defeat this unit at this skill level." Inside, Homunculus drops to the ground on one knee, fist planted into the floor of the arena. Optics still flaring with fury, he pushes himself to his feet and stares down at the Combaticon. Snorting with contempt, he vaults the wall of the arena and returns to the stands. Inside, Homunculus has been reset. Fusillade continues to stare downwards into the arena. At the second licking, she groans a bit and raises a hand to clutch her forehead. "Vortex, Vortex," she murmurs to herself. An expectant glance is cast Bandit's way, but she doesn't press for information. She instead tries to fathom the faint purple aura shifting around the Berkut. Inside, Vortex is taken down once again, snarling as the drone reactivates him. "Did.. pretty good." he says tiredly, staggering to his feet. "So anyone esle want a turn?" he leans against the arena wall a moment, as if trying to right a spinning world. Homunculus emerges from the Holo Arena. Fusillade idly flicks out an oilcloth, before she lazily begins to swipe over the wingblade. "Impressive, Homunculus. You need not look so wroth. You've proven your point, I would think." Her alto voice carries with it assurance. Cyberlion can't help but pity the Combaticon. So much willingness to fight and such inaptitude. Guess it is to be expected from an inferior generation gestalt. Homunculus smiles triumphantly, though still simmering slightly, and settles back down into one of the seats. Planting his foot on the edge of the box, he drapes his arm over his knee and watches the next match with interest. Inside, Sunder grins as the mouthy Combaticon is humbled by the tape. Now it was time to repay Vortex for trying to ditch him a while ago. He flexes his talons eagerly. "Now, shall we get started, Vortex? I've been meaning to finish our little battle we started back in Florida." Inside, Vortex transmits a message via radio. Inside, Vortex continues to go. Two defeats under him, and he looks to the Sweep. "Are you willing to give it a try?" he asks, optics dimmer then normal. He might not have pain receptors at the moment, but his energy levels are almost depleted. He chuckles, sounding a bit out of it. "Let's go, Sunder. Challengers..first." Inside, Sunder almost purrs in anticipation. "I assume there are...no rules?" he asks. Inside, Vortex takes a blade in his hand and spins it a bit. "No rules. And no surrender. One stands. One collapses. We'll see who is left at the end." Inside, Sunder says, "Excellent. Prepare to defend yourself!"" Inside, Sunder strikes Vortex with disruptor. Inside, Vortex takes the hit by the disruptor, coming at Sunder, blade first. His chest is ripped into, and he shakes his head. "Stupid damage message. I know I'm injured." he says to himself. "Not as badly as this sweep's going to be." Inside, Vortex misses Sunder with its blade attack. Inside, Sunder chuckles and steps aside as Vortex charges past him. "You're going to have to be better than that," he sneers, "MUCH better." He charges at the Combaticon, claws outstretched. Inside, Sunder strikes Vortex with slash. Inside, Vortex takes a slash across the facemask, his face sparking from the damage. "Let's see how well you do without those claws." he grunts, firing his glue gun at the sweep's hands. Inside, Vortex misses Sunder with its special attack. Cyberlion observes the sweep carefully. He did not have much chance to study this one in particular but they all have their weaknesses. Always a good thing to know. Inside, Sunder is prepared for the glue attack, and dodges it easily. "Oh trust me, I can do plenty even without these claws," he says, "Care to find out?" Inside, Sunder strikes Vortex with plasma. Inside, Vortex takes another shot. He's moving slowly todya, but transforms anyways. The chopper fires h is side mounted disruptor at the sweep, trying ot knock him down. Inside, Vortex misses Sweepcraft with its disruptor attack. Inside, Sunder's agility is even greater as a vehicle than a robot, and he evades the blast from Vortex with ease. "Oh, were you aiming for me?" he taunts, while preparing his next attack. Inside, Sunder strikes Combat Helicopter with Ballistic. Inside, Vortex falls to the ground unconscious. Inside, Training Drone - NCC hovers over to Vortex and revives it with a quick zap of energy. "You require additional training to defeat this unit at this skill level." Inside, Combat Helicopter falls right out of the sky, crashing into a crater. The drone comes over and reactivates him once again. "Well. That was another quick one." he trnasforms, rubbing his head. He seems barely able to move. "Yeah..well..ok. Anyone next?" he says almost semiconsciously. From Fusillade's point of view, the Sweep's behavior was certainly... distinctive. "Okay, you're Annoying Smurf," she utters under her intake, as she continues to polish one of her fanblades. The bomber flicks her gaze over Bandit once more. And then, back over to the mollified Homunculus. There's a thin smile from her, as she begins to go over each individual segment of the pleated, scissoring weapon. Inside, Sunder pounces on Vortex, grasping his throat in his powerful jaws. "So. Have you learned your lesson yet?" the Sweep asks, his mouth still full of the Combaticon's neck. He applies enough pressure to hold Vortex securely, but not enough to crush vital circuitry. Fusillade yells down, "STOP FLIRTING!" Inside, Vortex grunts. "Yeah.." he says, held still in the sweep's jaw. "Lemme go! I like femmes!" Inside, Geist moves quietly into the area. Inside, Sunder holds onto Vortex's neck for a little while longer before releasing him, feeling that he's made his point. Inside, Vortex rubs his neck. "I feel violated." Homunculus claps his hand against his knee in amusement as Vortex is knocked down once again. "Combaticons. Shameful," he mutters to himself. "Such a disgrace to the Empire." He quirks a brow at the sweep's actions, but remains silent. Inside, Vortex looks around. "So.. who gets to chew on me next?" He asks, leaning against the wall. "Once the room stops spinning.." Inside, Sunder folds his arms against his chest. "I think the question should rather be, who do *I* get to chew on next?" Brawl arrives from the NCC Spinal Pathway via a winding steel-cable webbed bridge to the southeast. Inside, Vortex blinks his optics. "You wanna take my place in the arena? Well ok then. I can leave now?" Fusillade pays particular attention to the joints of the wingblades, and looks a bit wistful. Inside, A faint chuckle is heard from the wall near the entrance to the holo arena as the doorway slides shut. The source of said chuckle: Geist, who shakes his head slowly. "Sunder... tell me that's not your definition of coming back from the thrashing Dredclaw gave you. At least with Arachnae, you had an interesting battle." Bandit watches it all unfold. "I tell you he has quite a lot of spirit. That is good to see...not many people have attitude like that ...." he looks to Sunder and sighs, "A bit too much overconfidence....but it is understandable I guess." Inside, Vortex points a finger at Geist. "Hey. I'm not about to be a tool for Sweep family squabbles. Slag you all. I'm getting drunk." with that he turns to leave the arena. Vortex emerges from the Holo Arena. Brawl arrives late. "WHo's got spirit?" he asks. "How'd 'Tex do...oh, he's stompin' off...that bad, huh?" Vortex grumbles. "I don't want to talk about it." he tries to shoulder his way past everyone, barely walking. Bandit says, "Take care comrade...you ran some good exercises there....." Inside, Sunder regards his wingsib critically. "That battle with Dredclaw could have easily gone in my favor and you know it," he says. Vortex ehs. "They got lucky. Three times." Brawl considers, nodding. "Sure, 'Tex," he says with a hint of the usual sarcasm. "You was just goin' easy on 'em, right? Lettin' 'em find out how much it hurts when they hit you?" Bandit returns, "What is that you said their comrade? It sounded a bit like a Siberian Tiger...." Vortex looks at Homunculus. "Yeah well your creator was one too!" he snarls. "Of course I was.." Brawl considers for a moment, then shrugs. "What th' slag," he says. "Somebody's gotta bring some dignity t'this unit." Inside, Geist chuckles. "Of course, wingsib," he says with a faint smirk. "At least you were able to vent some of your frustrations over having glued-up intakes out on the perpetrator." Brawl enters the Holo Arena. Inside, Sunder regards the boisterous Combaticon with narrowed optics. "Are you my next challenger?" he asks. Homunculus smirks and leans even farther forward as Brawl enters the arena. That particular Decepticon did manage to put him in the medical ward once. "Let's see how this one fares," he comments to no one in particular. Vortex leans against a wall "Give em slag, Brawl!" he tries to yell, his vocalizer going out a bit. Fusillade allows herself to revel in the growling and posturing going on between the Seeker, the Sweeps below, and the tape and the Combaticons. There normally would have been some twinge, some worry about maintaining order. But now? It was completely up in the air. She gazes to the south, and wonders aloud, "Huh. Maybe the auroras are reaching up far enough to see from the edge of the city." Inside, Brawl grunts. "Well, I didn't come in here t'look at your pretty smilin' face," Brawl says. "You beat Vortex, let's see what you can do 'gainst a real mech." Vortex says, "Brawl..." Vortex says, "This is going to make things worse." Inside, Sunder growls in anticipation. "Any particular preference on rules, or who goes first?" Brawl says, "Busy now, go get yourself one of those drinks with th' li'l umbrellas in it." Vortex says, "Slag you..." Bandit follows her optic gaze. "Perhaps....did you want to take a look? If not...we always have this evenings revelry in the Arena hahaha....ach this has been quite humorous." he seems to find humor in the posturing and all that rot. Inside, Brawl grunts. "Whatever rules you want, Sweep." Inside, Sunder chuckles evilly. "I prefer NO rules, myself. But since I'm in a generous mood, I shall allow you to take the first strike." Vortex 's optics darken again. "Give him slag, Brawl." he staggers to his feet. "I have things to attend to in the dungeon." he staggers off, probably finding some place to collapse. No wait. Being strong and brooding. Yeah! Cyberlion observes with renewed interest at how the most brutal combaticon will fare. Brawl is similar to Rampage in many ways...but inferior in general of course. Vortex is let into the NCC Dungeon to the north, as triangular doors, evoking the kraken's beak, open wide and clamp shut tightly, making almost a chomping sound. Vortex grumbles something and turns his radio off. You transmit a message to Brawl: Primus. Run over him in tank mode. I don't want to see anything left other than a smear on the ground. I'll help pick him out of your treads afterwards, if you do. Inside, Brawl receives a radio transmission. Inside, Brawl grunts, optics lighting up in what's almost a smirk. "Can do," he says to the area at large as he drops to tank mode and charges Sunder. Inside, Brawl strikes Sunder with ram. Inside, Sunder grunts as the tank rams into him. This was going to call for his own altmode. Time to transform and use his much-more-agile sweepcraft mode. Vortex says, "How'se he doin?" Bandit watches the tank slam into the waiting arms of the Sweep. He nods his head, taking in all of the goings on and adding them to his memory banks. Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with plasma. Fusillade meets Bandit's amethyst gaze with a clear spark of interest. "The skies are always welcome," Fusillade murmurs. "When I was first reactivated from stasis, a lot of my missions had me spend a lot of time in the air in alt mode. Quite enjoyable, although I suspect that I'd be nowhere nimble as you." She then looks back down, and breaks into sharp whistle of encouragement to Brawl, raising one obsidian hand to the skies and waggling it as she cheers. Homunculus says, "He's still mobile, for the moment." Vortex says, "mm good. Tape it for me?" Homunculus says, "Is that supposed to be amusing?" Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank stays in tank mode for the nonce, his cannons attempting to track the Sweepcraft as it attempts to dodge. He considers his shot carefully before firing a blast of compressed air just in front of where he hopes the Sweep's nose will be. Vortex says, "Naa. you record things." Inside, Brawl misses Sweepcraft with its Compressed_air attack. Inside, Sweepcraft is extremely glad of his high agility in vehicle mode. He easily dodges the blast from the tank, and banks sharply, ready to strike again. Homunculus says, "With the appropriate device, yes. I don't just conjure images out of thin air like that idiotic Autobot, Hound." Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with Disruptor. Bandit nods his head. "Da...the skies are a great place to relax and to gain better perspective on things. It is partly why I do not complain when I am given recon or patrol missions. It allows me time to contemplate things." his optics watch as plasma hits the tank. "Oye....try your sonics there Brawl...that should rattle the Sweepcraft enough to bring it down to your level..." he states giving some sage advice. He turns to Fusillade, "I was even more elated when I was fitted for space flight as well....even if it is short range. That is an experience unto itself." Vortex says, "If ya can, send me at least security camera footage. I'd be there myself but..." Homunculus says, "I'll get something for you." Vortex says, "Good..hmm..." Vortex 's radio goes out. Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank grunts, partly from the annoyance of being hit and partly from acknowledgement of Bandit's shouted comment. He charges forward and going into a modified bootlegger's spin, whips around to aim his sonic cannons at Sunder's underside. Inside, Brawl strikes Sweepcraft with sonics. "KICK HIS AFT!" Fusillade bellows down unhelpfully to the tank, before hmming and turning back to Bandit, envy clear in her optics. "To actually watch the auroras... BELOW you?" She starts as the advice work. "WHOA. Hey, that DID work." She then mmmms, and snaps the wingblade to its full width with a metallic slither of moving metal parts. Inside, Sweepcraft growls as the blast hits. Lucky shot. Oh well, at least most of the tank's attacks have missed so far, while all his attacks so far have hit their mark. Sunder goes for another strafing run. Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with ballistic. Inside, Luck had nothing to do with it. Brawl is a tank in a world of flyboys, picking up their tactics is just par for the course. Particularly when your leader is Ons-"Anal retentive can and cannot have a hyphen equally"-slaught. And the first rule of fighting flyboys is, if they hurt you, hurt 'em back all the more. He fires his Gauss cannon, hoping to knock Sunder out of the sky. Bandit nods his head. "It was a sight to behold.....I never thought it was much during shuttle flights...but it is a different thing when it you by yourself." he grins as his advice works. "Da....it is a simple ploy. His sonic emitters pulse outward and give him a better chance of striking the fast target...whereas the compressed air cannons are more focused...and while not impossible are much harder to impact." he watches the next strafing run. "Let us see what comrade Brawl has in his bag of tricks next...shall we?" Inside, Brawl strikes Sweepcraft with gauss. Inside, Sweepcraft doesn't give the Combaticon the satisfaction of showing how much the attack hurt. He wheels around, murder in his scanners. He was going to bring this tank down. Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with plasma. "Might take you up on that offer later, Bandit. Watch out." Fusillade flashes a silvery, fanged grin the Seeker's way, before she reholsters her wingblade. She whoooos at Brawl, and leans forward in the seat, the combat starting to pique her interest. Bandit says, "Ach we already have been seeing that maneuver comrade Sunder...why don't you show us something new?" Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank transforms back to robot mode for the moment, his systems grinding in protest as he rises up and brings his electron gun on line and fires. Inside, Brawl strikes Sweepcraft with electricity. Inside, Sweepcraft snarls as the next attack hits him. He watches the tank revert to robot form. This is what he'd been waiting for. Time to get the claws out... Inside, Sunder strikes Brawl with slash. Inside, Brawl was hoping for this, the stupid sweep got within arm's reach of him. He doesn't bother with claws, instead, he puts his still not-inconsiderable strenght behind a punch aimed at the Sweep's face. Inside, Brawl strikes Sunder with punch. Inside, Sunder is still standing after the attack. Desperate to flatten the Combaticon, Sunder aims a kick. Inside, Sunder strikes Brawl with kick. Inside, Brawl snorts. "You call that a kick?" he says. "This is a kick, Soapy." Inside, Brawl misses Sunder with its kick attack. Bandit looks as the battle continues. "Heh.....this is rather amusing don't you agree Fusillade?" Inside, Sunder evades the kick and charges forward with a snarl Inside, Sunder misses Brawl with his claw attack. Inside, Brawl ducks the incoming claws as he snickers about the fact that the Sweep hasn't learned yet that arm's reach of him is not the place to be. "Bad kitty," he says, backhanding Sunder. Inside, Brawl strikes Sunder with blow. Inside, Brawl receives a radio transmission from Vortex. Inside, Sunder takes the hit, but isn't discouraged. There's gotta be SOME way of taking him down... Inside, Sunder strikes Brawl with rocket. "It's... starting to get old," Fusillade frowns a bit. "I usually had Fleet review combat data on fights and such, and just give me the boiled down version. Aides are handy like that. Never really cared for robot mode conflict. Despite the fact that it forms the lifeblood of the Decepticon way of life." She absently raises one hand to sleek back the aileron blades that arch away from her elbows. Inside, Brawl is hurt. This upsets him. And that, to paraphrase Nietche, which upsets him makes him angry and that which makes him angry makes him turn into a tank and gauss that which has made him angry! Inside, Brawl misses Sunder with its gauss attack. Inside, Sunder notices the Combaticon reverting to tank mode, and quickly dodges the attack. Back to Sweepcraft mode, it seems, would be the most logical choice. Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with disruptor. Fusillade amends, "A good match that plots... skill against each other, instead of simple clobbering, is always welcome. There's few that specialize in edged weapons. I don't, but I still enjoy being able to cross blades." Bandit nods his head. "Yes Aerial Combat was my speciality in my inception....and it has evolved to Space Combat as well..." he adds, "Not to mention the revelry I feel when I am performing aerobatically..." he watches the exchange down there. "Ach.....give him another volley of Sonics!" Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank is in trouble, deep trouble and he knows it. Which means there's just one thing do to: something stupid. He aims his cannons as far up as they'll go, tracking the Sweep's movements shakily and fires his sonics one last time. If he's gonna go out, he's gonna go out making a big noise. Cyberlion wanders his gaze over to Fusillade for a few moments and back to the fight. The dumb tank has proven himself surprisingly resilient. The sweep must start to feel the pressure and urgency of the situation. Inside, Brawl misses Sweepcraft with its sonics attack. Inside, This was it. Sunder had to make this next attack count. Victory could be his... Inside, Sunder misses M-14 Sherman Tank with his ballistic attack. Bandit says, "Edged weapons....that is one thing I have not mastered.....mostly energy based weaponry..." Inside, Quietly, Geist observes the back-and-forth struggle between his wingsib and Brawl. Truth be told, he's rather surprised that it's lasted this long. A testament, perhaps, to Brawl's resiliency more than anything else. Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank evades the attack out of sheer luck and stubborn, Combaticon-tenacity. With an angry growl, he fires his compressed air cannons again, hoping to get lucky and wind-sheer Sunder into the ground. Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank growls as his cannons fail to fire. If he were more of an organic individual, that might cause some self-esteem issues. Luckily, he's not organic and self-esteem is something that happens to other people. Instead, Brawl attempts to transform and stand shakily on the arena floor. "C'mon, you think you got me beat? C'mon!" Fusillade pauses as she feels leonine scrutiny. She doesn't quite tear her gaze away from the match, or Bandit's presence beside her. "Well, the adage of not bringing a sword to a gunfight holds true, especially in the Decepticons. It's rare. But well, until a few breem ago, I couldn't access my bomb bays in robot mode. So... the tails and wings become my weapons... defense really... in robot mode." Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank's transformation gears grind but go no where. Inside, Sweepcraft sighs with relief. His opponent is powerless. Helpless prey. His favorite kind. Inside, Sunder misses M-14 Sherman Tank with his disruptor attack. Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank is stuck in place and *still* manages to evade an attack. Fusillade breaks into a loud cackle. "He wasn't even MOVING!!!!" Bandit ahhs, "I am sorry to hear that......but I will say that I understand how you feel. My specifications were never fully realized....at least not for a while. Being experimental allowed for the additions...but I needed to prove my worth to be allowed to see them installed..." his attention returns to the match. "Oh that is quite disturbing...to be sure." Inside, Geist just... stares... at his wingsib. "How in the PIT do you miss that?" Still, however, there's a part of him that's making certain to tuck that little tidbit of information away. A little blackmail material on the 'teacher's pet' of the Sweeps never hurts, after all. Inside, M-14 Sherman Tank isn't sure how he did it either. "Ancient Combaticon trainin' technique," he says, though the words come out more like "Anc'ein Cbatti fain foom." Inside, Sweepcraft is doing a very good job of hiding how injured he really is. Geist has no idea that the reason he missed the attack was the fact that he was very low on energon, and he was starting to see double. But he had to finish this, somehow. Inside, Sunder strikes M-14 Sherman Tank with blade. Inside, Brawl falls to the ground unconscious. Inside, Training Drone - NCC hovers over to Brawl and revives it with a quick zap of energy. "You require additional training to defeat this unit at this skill level." Fusillade collapses backward in a pile of giggles for a moment. However, she snaps her gaze over to Bandit, and she ahems, and then sits back up. "It does get costly, yes, and the required security clearances..." She trails off, the recent demotion still smarting. As Brawl finally hunkers further down on his treads, the bomber shrugs a bit, "Aww, shame." Bandit looks down and grins. "Ahhh it could have gone either way.....perhaps if he had landed those Sonics earlier....bah but no Monday Morning quarterbacking from me eh." he shouts. "Good job to you both.....very good!" Inside, Brawl looks over at Sunder, grunting. "Good fight," he says, then turns to leave the arena. Inside, "NOT SO FAST!" Sunder snarls, pouncing and grabbing the back of the Combaticon's neck in his teeth. Inside, Brawl reaches back to grab Sunder's head. "Get off me, now," he says. "STOP FLIRTING!" Inside, Sunder holds on for a few moments before releasing the Combaticon. Well, now that was out of his system. A battle was never really over until Sunder had bitten his prey. Inside, Brawl looks back at Sunder. "That make you feel better now, Sweep?" he asks. "You feel like you've *really* won now?" Cyberlion makes not of both combatants. A close a fight as it can get. Both looked exhausted. The predacon commander smiles and adds a little note to his personal files. What is this? He asks himself at the Sweep's antics. Amusing, sweeps pretending to be animals. Bandit looks on "Interesting....I never understood the biting thing....ech must be a fad or something I have not been hearing about..." "I swear," Fusillade rumbles to herself as she stands. "I'm going to have to sue for royalties," she mumrurs to herself. "I need to draft up some plans for missions. Carpet bombing does the pump wonders." Idly, one hand rises to give Bandit a clap on the shoulder. She rests her palm on one of her wingblade hilts, and slinks away. "You really should ask Scrapper and Bonecrusher about the biting... thing. They might be able to cite a few of the times I was their patient," she remarks slyly. Inside, Sunder growls. "Of course it makes me feel better," he tells the Combaticon, "You have no idea." Inside, Brawl snorts. "That's the difference between you an' me, I don't need t'do that kinda posturing slag to know I've won. When I win, I know it." Inside, Brawl turns to head out of the arena. Inside, Sunder regards his wingsib. "I almost didn't make it," he says slowly, "But I never showed weakness." Brawl steps out of the arena. "I need a drink," he says, moving out of the area and toward the bar. Yay bar! Inside, Geist shakes his head. "No... you just missed the broad side of a barn when he had no chance to retaliate. That does little to bolster our reputation, you know... and it makes my job so much harder to perform. We're supposed to be feared... not ridiculed." Inside, Sunder glares at his wingsib. "I'd like to see YOU hit him when your optics are seing two of him," he snaps in irritation. The cyberlion's ears twitch a bit "You already have." The Predacon remains like a statue, one would almost think of him as part of the background. Periodically the feline's gaze moves over to Bandit and Fusillade. Inside, Geist chuckles softly. "Of course, wingsib," he replies, his voice almost a purr. "Of course." Inside, Sunder yawns and settles down to wait for more challengers. "I don't suppose you would care to spar with me, Geist?" he wonders. Fusillade continues to ascend, flicking wingblades once. She's about her Empire's business. Taking a steel-web bridge to the southeast, you trade the stands of the NCC Arena for the spikes of the NCC Spinal Pathway. NCC Spinal Pathway Aptly named, this corridor stretches down the length of the city-shark, straight down the middle and following what would be the neural pathways. Most areas of the city can be reached by following the arching way. Unlike a shark's structure, though, the pathway is frost blue metal, shining like mirrors, and columns like raised spikes punctuate it, stretching up to the sky as if to skewer any unwelcome visitors. The cut angles and sinuous curves catch bright sunlight and sparkling starlight alike and send prismatic light glancing through the structure like spears. You transmit a message to Bandit: I'll have to come watch when you're up next. Transmission from Bandit: you betcha...I will challenge sunder one of these days I think. Only because a humbling experience would be good for him. --End--